Monday, 16 May 2016

I am one of those people who just love breakfast. In fact, I could quite happily have breakfast for lunch and dinner too! In my opinion, one of the best things about staying at a hotel is the all you can eat breakfast in the morning! When I was recently at one of these, I discovered a new breakfast: fruit, natural yogurt and granola. A fairly healthy, yet filling, breakfast. However, when I got back home I was shocked to see just how much granola costs! Surely you would be cheaper to make your own? After a bit of research, I found the cheapest way to make your own granola:

- Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl
- Spread onto a greased baking tray (easier with grease proof paper)
- Bake at 150C or gas mark 2 for 10 - 15 min
- Take out and give it a good shake
- If you want to form clusters (the best bit in my opinion) carefully use a spoon to form some of the pieces into balls, as the honey should be runny and sticky at this stage. If the oats are not sticking, try adding some water.
- Bake for a further 10 min
- Leave to cool (if you can resist) and store in an airtight container

I worked out that this cost me about £1.20 to make, and a lot of the ingredients I already had in the house. This is around half the price of the ones in the shop, is so much fun to make, and you know exactly what is going into it and can adapt it to taste.

Thursday, 5 May 2016

So today before my exam I was queuing to get in early, since I get extra time. Two guys behind me noticed with one saying 'How come they get an extra half hour, I should get an extra half hour!'. To which his ignorant friend replied 'Yeah, but they can't write or something'.

'They can't write or something'

Mental illnesses come in all shapes and sizes, and plenty of them aren't visible to the eye. I don't have dyslexia but I get extra time. I don't normally tell people about this, but this mans ignorance and naivety made me realise there is still such a stigma around mental health issues. In this day and age, we shouldn't be judging our fellow classmates, especially for things that are out of their control. I wish everyone the best of luck for their exams, whatever their mental health. ‪#‎StopTheStigma‬

Sunday, 1 May 2016

Life is very busy for me just now, with university exams in full flow. This can be a stressful time of year, so I like to have some hobbies to keep me going and give me a bit of a break. As anyone who has read any of my other posts, my favourite hobby is comping, and it is such a flexible hobby that you can invest as much or as little time into as you want. Also, a little win after a long day of studying is the perfect pick me up!Although comping is my favourite hobby, and I doubt that I could give it up even if I wanted to, it does take a lot of time. At first, when I tell people about some of the things that I have won, they often tell me how lucky I am. Something that they don’t always realise, is the time and effort that goes into entering so many competitions. As a student, I have a slightly more flexible timetable, but with exam season upon me, I have to manage my time more efficiently! Below I have listed my favourite ways to maximise your comping time! The more time you have, the more competitions you can enter, and so the more chance you have of winning! But don't forget, it's not just about the quantity of competition you enter, but the quality. You can spend 10 minutes entering RT-to-win Twitter competitions (which can have a high number of entries) or invest those 10 minutes in thinking of a great slogan for an 'effort comp' that less people will have entered. Everyone has their own preferences, but either way, the following tips can teach you how to maximise the time that you do have, however you may chose to use it.

There are so many great apps for comping that can be downloaded onto your smartphone. This means that you can use any spare moment comping. That time waiting at the bus stop, walking back from the school run after dropping the kids off, or standing in line at the post office can be put to good use! I love it when I get free Wi-Fi on buses and I can spend the journey listening to music and comping on my phone.

Some of my favourite apps when I'm out and about are Twitter, Tengi and Wamo. For a run-down of the best comping apps read this post.

Get into a Routine

One of the most important things about comping is to be organised. I received a beautiful notebook for my birthday last year, but never had a use for it. As I love writing things down and being able to physically see a plan in front of me, I decided to start planning my comping in this little notebook. If I see a competition when out and about, or I receive an email but don't have time to properly read it, I'll jot down the main details of the competition, so that I can then look at it properly when I have more time. Notebooks are also a great place to write down slogans, phrases and ideas for creative competitions. Even if you don't win a certain competition, you can use the same idea for another one later on, just adapt it a little to fit the new promoter!

As I like to have a leisurely breakfast before uni, I always squeeze in some entries as I’m munching my cereal. While you’re at it, always read the boxes of cereal – it’s so common for there to be a giveaway! I then check my emails over lunch and play some games on WinnerooPrizes in the evenings after I'm finished studying. If you get into a routine of comping, it won’t seem like any extra work!

I have a bad habit of being on my phone right before I go to bed, so now rather than scrolling through endless memes on Facebook (however hilarious they may be), I enter a few Twitter competitions and after half an hour make sure I get some sleep. By using a habit I already had, I have squeezed in some more comping! (I also find that by entering the Twitter competitions at the end of the day when they are closing soon, you can increase your chances to win!)

Use Shortcuts

Filling in forms can be incredibly boring, so why not save some time and get them filled out for you! By setting up Auto-fill, Fillr or other similar apps, the form filling out process will take half the time. Just enter your details once on the set-up page, and they will automatically fill the rest in for you in future. On Apple devices, you can set up word/phrase shortcuts. You can choose a shortcut, and it will fill in the rest of the phrase for you. For example, I have it set up where, if I type ’07’ and then space, the rest of my phone number will fill in. Find this feature under settings, then general, then keyboard and scroll down until you find Text Replacement.

Bookmark the Best

Visiting the same sites every day? Favourite and bookmark your most used sites to make the process so much easier. Some sites, such as Prize Finder, already have lists of giveaways so it’s a must save! You can find a list of instant win giveaways here. Bookmark this page so that all your instant wins are in one place! Simple! I make sure to visit these sites every day as part of my comping routine (as mentioned earlier). When they are easier to access you won't forget about them, it doesn't seem as much hassle and it saves you time! A triple bonus!

What are your comping time saving secrets? Do you enter everyday, or just at the weekends? I’d love to hear from you!